


Dr. Hanscom, to the Rescue

by phoebenavarro



Category: IT - Stephen King, It Chapter 2 (2019)
Genre: First Aid, Missing Scene, movie canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 02:09:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20574713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoebenavarro/pseuds/phoebenavarro
Summary: Ben takes care of Eddie's face after Bowers stabbed him, and they talk."You patched me up after Bowers carved me up,” Ben said, trying to give him a reassuring grin, “The least I can do is return the favor.”





	Dr. Hanscom, to the Rescue

Ben sat down on the bed next to Eddie with a stack of clean towels next to him. The sheer amount of blood pouring out of the hole in Eddie’s cheek and his mouth was startling. Ben took a towel and pressed it against Eddie’s face.   
  
“Eddie, honey,” Beverly asked, “Where’s your first aid kit?” Because they all knew Eddie well enough to know that he brought had a first aid kit with him.   
  
“Toiletries bag,” Eddie said, and more blood dribbled out of his mouth, “In my room.”   
  
“Be careful,” Ben said to Beverly, “Bowers might come back. And check on Richie, make sure he’s okay.” Beverly nodded, and walked out of the room. Ben picked up another towel and held it up to Eddie’s mouth.  
  
“All that blood in your mouth must be gross,” he said, “Spit it out on this.” Eddie gave him a one-sided smile.   
  
“Thanks Haystack,” Eddie said, spitting some blood onto the towel.   
  
“You patched me up after Bowers carved me up,” Ben said, trying to give him a reassuring grin, “The least I can do is return the favor.” Beverly rushed back into the room and handed Ben the first aid kit.   
  
“Here,” she said, “Richie’s gone. I don’t know where he is.”   
  
“That _fucker_,” Eddie swore, “I get fucking stabbed and he just leaves?” He spat more blood out on the towel angrily. Ben was having the same thoughts exactly, and he couldn't help but feel a little betrayed, that Richie had lied to him about staying. He shook his head, and focused on the task at hand.   
  
“Bev, can you hand me a butterfly bandaid and gauze and tape? Oh, and antiseptic,” Ben requested. Beverly handed him the supplies he asked for.   
  
“Do you think I should call Mike?” she asked, and she already had her phone in her hand.   
  
“Oh shit,” Ben said, “That’s probably where Bowers is going now. We need to warn him.” Beverly nodded. They all knew that Bowers had a particular hatred for Mike when they were kids.   
  
“You take care of Eddie,” Beverly ordered, “I’ll call Mike.”   
  
“Thank you Bev,” Ben said. She stepped out of the room to make the call, and Ben turned his attention back to Eddie.   
  
“Can you hold this towel?” Ben asked, and Eddie did. Ben took the top off the antiseptic and wet another fresh towel. He moved the towel from Eddie’s cheek, and thankfully it looked like the bleeding had started to slow down.   
  
“I think the bleeding’s stopping,” Ben said, hoping to make Eddie feel less freaked. He dabbed the wound with the antiseptic, and Eddie barely even winced. Eddie was a pro at this.   
  
“Hey Haystack? Distract me from the fact that I almost got murdered by Henry Bowers,” Eddie mumbled, moving his lips as little as possible. Ben quickly unwrapped the butterfly bandage and placed it over the wound to keep Eddie’s cheek together.  
  
“What do you want me to talk about?” Ben asked.   
  
“Like, what made you want to lose all that weight?”   
  
“Oh, you want to open that can of worms?” Ben chuckled quietly, but he didn’t find it particularly funny.   
  
“Why not?” Eddie replied, “We’re all probably going to die anyway.” Ben shrugged. What the hell.   
  
“I was harassed for being fat my entire life,” Ben said, picking up the gauze and tape. As he told his story, he taped the gauze to Eddie’s cheek. “But when I moved away from Derry and started high school, it got worse. Gym was the worst. It wasn’t just the kids. The coach was absolutely awful to me too. It got to a point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I knew I had to lose weight. Actually losing the weight was the hard part, because of my mom. She struggled a lot financially after my dad died, and she became obsessed with making sure that I had enough food to eat.”   
  
“Makes sense,” Eddie said.   
  
“Yeah, but she really freaked out when I started trying to lose weight. Telling me that I was starving myself, killing myself. I knew that it came from a place of love and concern for me, but it was still harmful for me, and I couldn’t overcome that until I understood it.”   
  
A lightbulb went off in Eddie’s head. If it weren’t for the hole in his face that Ben was currently patching up, his jaw would’ve dropped open. All his life, he had been making excuses for his mother’s— and Myra’s— abuse, by saying that it was coming out of a place of love. Ben had figured that out, while Eddie was stuck in the exact situation he had always been in. Eddie realized that he had spent the majority of his life being miserable just because it was comfortable and familiar.   
  
Ben ran his fingers over the tape to make sure that the gauze wouldn't come off, and he patted Eddie’s shoulder. “Alright, that should be good enough for now, but we’re gonna need to get you to a hospital once this is all over, Eds.” Eddie gave him a weak smile. He didn’t hate the nickname as much now as he had when they were kids. (And maybe he never even hated it at all.)  
  
“Thanks Ben.”   
  
Beverly stuck her head through the door.   
  
“Guys,” she said, “Mike’s not answering his phone. We need to get to the library NOW.”   
  
“I’ll drive,” Ben said immediately, leaping to his feet. Eddie followed shortly after, racing down the stairs and to the parking lot.   
  
_If we get out of this_, Eddie thought, _I’ve gotta make some serious changes in my life._

**Author's Note:**

> I was just rereading the part in the book where Ben talks about why he lost the weight and everything and I really wished they had included some portion of that conversation in the movie, so I wrote this. And then I thought about how Ben was able to mostly move past a lot of his trauma in his adult life, but Eddie wasn't, so that got added into this fic too. 
> 
> Also, Ben and Eddie's dynamic is SUPER underappreciated. So yeah. 
> 
> Find me on tumblr @phoebenavarro if you wanna freak out about chapter 2 with me, and comments and kudos are all appreciated!


End file.
